A Lansford man was sentenced to a long state prison term Tuesday after previously admitting to a crime spree in his hometown.

Joseph Martin Zarsky, 31, was sentenced to serve a total of seven and a half to 15 years in a state correctional institution. The prison term will be followed by one year of state probation.He previously pleaded to five counts each of criminal trespass and theft, two counts of burglary and one count each of criminal attempt and loitering or prowling at night. He admitted entering various homes in Lansford, including one of a borough police officer. He also admitted entering homes while some of the victims were asleep in their bedrooms.Police said Zarsky entered the various residences during a time frame of August to October 2014. He left the area after arrest warrants were issued. He was eventually located on March 13, 2015, in the Pittsburgh area and brought back to Carbon County. He was arraigned on the charges and committed to the county prison in lieu of bail, where he has remained since.Among his victims were Mary and Jack Soberick. Jack Soberick, now chief of police, was a sergeant with the borough police department at the time and one of the prosecutors in the various cases, along with patrolmen Timothy Wuttke, Joshua Tom and Jason Helmer. During a break-in overnight of Sept. 5 and 6, 2014, the female victim was asleep in an upstairs bedroom. Police also said during an Aug. 29, 2014, entry, a male was asleep in an upstairs bedroom.In some of the cases Zarsky attempted to gain entry but did not succeed.Zarsky is currently serving a two and a half to five year state prison term imposed for break-ins in Schuylkill County.Defense Attorney Matthew Mottola of the public defender's office said Zarsky's long-term drug addiction problem led to the crimes. He added since his incarceration and his being free of drugs he is a different person, calling him very intelligent. He added, "He is a classic example how a person can fall with addiction." He said Zarsky was using 30 bags of heroin a day.He also claimed that Zarsky went through an inpatient rehabilitation program and was drug free for a period of time. He said he then experienced a medical issue, went to the emergency room of a hospital and was given opiates for help with the pain, despite the fact that he told hospital personnel he was a recovering addict. He said that got him back using drugs and back to his life of crime.Zarsky read a long letter he had written to the victims of his crimes apologizing for his actions and knowing he will never make them whole again."What I did was wrong is so many levels, I want to apologize for what I did," Zarsky said.Matika told Zarsky, "Your first love in life was drugs" noting he started using at a young age. He said long-term drug use "doesn't excuse you for committing these crimes, it only helps to explain it."Matika added, "This addiction created a monster in you."Matika also said the victims of the crimes will never feel safe. He said, "You violated them in the safety of their homes."In addition to the jail term, Matika ordered Zarsky to get both drug and alcohol and mental health evaluations, zero tolerance for drug and alcohol use, make total restitution to the various victims of $6,480.70, pay court costs of about $1,000 and supply a DNA sample.He was given credit for 55 days spent in jail on the charges. He has been in jail longer than that but the other time was used a credit on the Schuylkill County sentence. Matika also ruled that term would run concurrent with Schuylkill County.